SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO — The San Juan Hills football team had a wake-up call last week when it suffered a blowout loss at the hands of Corona del Mar.
San Juan Hills did some “soul-searching” this week and bounced back nicely with a 41-17 win over Yorba Linda Friday in a Bravo League game at San Juan Hills High.
“The coaching staff met, had to do some ‘soul-searching,’ look in the mirror and after that we had some serious meetings with players about how to do things the right way,” San Juan Hills coach Rob Frith said. “We are not that team we showed last Friday. We are the team we saw here tonight. I’m proud of the coaching staff and the kids.”
San Juan Hills (5-2, 1-1) shined on defense Friday, holding Yorba Linda (5-2, 1-1) under 100 yards passing and forcing two turnovers.
Chase Mason and Luke Frith each had interceptions in the third quarter for the Stallions. Roman Paseka had a sack and Jacob Mullen led the team in tackles.
“Our defense had been taking some shots on the chin a little bit but our coaching staff had our guys really ready to play and we played disciplined for the most part,” Frith said. “Roman (Paseka) was a beast in the middle. We thought that if we could get them (Yorba Linda) to chase points and do things they weren’t comfortable with, we’d be in a good situation.”
San Juan Hills blew the game open in the second half with 17 points in five minutes of game time. The Stallions opened the half with a 32-yard field goal by Kyle Donahue to extend their lead to 24-10.
Donahue made two 32-yard field goals for the Stallions and has made all nine of his field goal attempts this season.
On the next play from scrimmage, Mason intercepted a Yorba Linda pass and returned it inside the 10-yard line. San Juan Hills quarterback Timmy Herr then ran for a 6-yard to make the score 31-10.
Frith intercepted another Yorba Linda pass a few plays later to set up an 18-yard touchdown pass on a trick play from Dean Kolasinski to Herr to extend the lead to 38-10.
Herr completed 17 of 25 passes for 200 yards with two rushing touchdowns and a receiving touchdown.
Yorba Linda struggled to move the ball throughout the game and couldn’t make plays in the passing game to chip away at San Juan Hills’ lead. Noah Trujillo threw for 61 yards and ran for 29 yards with a touchdown. Vaughn Sharp led the Mustangs with 69 rushing yards and a touchdown.
Midway through the first quarter, Yorba Linda’s Andrew Maldonado intercepted a San Juan Hills pass in the first quarter and on the ensuing possession, Trujillo ran for an 8-yard touchdown to give the Mustangs a 7-0 lead.
San Juan Hills responded with a 5-play, 80-yard touchdown drive capped by an 8-yard touchdown run by Herr to tie the game.
Early in the second quarter, Frith ran for a 3-yard touchdown to give the Stallions a 14-7 lead.
Yorba Linda attempted a fourth down at its own 39-yard line and was stuffed by the San Juan Hills’ defense. The Stallions subsequently scored on a 2-yard touchdown run by Elijah Ayala to extend the lead to 21-7.
Bostyn Wilson made a 31-yard field goal for Yorba Linda late in the first half and Sharp ran for a 47-yard touchdown late in the third quarter.
The win was the 100th career win for Frith as a head coach. Frith led San Juan Hills to its lone CIF-SS championship in 2019 and led El Toro to a championship game in 2011.
“I’m blessed and so grateful for all the great players I’ve had over the years at El Toro and San Juan Hills,” Frith said. “I’ve had phenomenal coaching staffs and some guys have been with me at El Toro and San Juan Hills. I thank the players I’ve had from the bottom of my heart.”